Donating miles for a mother's virtual trip to Iraq

When I started my blog, I thought I was thinking big about running across the country from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. The tracking of the virtual trip across the country was my way of staying motivated through the cold New Hampshire winters. Philadelphia and Los Angeles were just arbitrary points that represented a cross-country trip; the cities themselves didn't mean much to me.

I just recently read a post by Mel @ 2nd Chances about a woman who wanted to run 6,436 miles: the distance from her home to where her son was stationed in Iraq. Now that's inspiration! She did it by running on her own and through people donating miles to her all over the internet through her web site milesforbrian.com. All told, she has over 179,000 miles. Wow!

Her story is fantastic for so many reasons. First, she hit the road and helped herself stay fit. Second, she did something to distract herself from her son being stationed in Iraq. And, of course, she harnessed the power of a very gracious running community. This community is all about help and inclusion, and there's no better example of both qualities than milesforbrian.com.

Thanks for sharing the story, Mel. It's a reminder to all of us to think big!